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[StoOgE]

I received an email from amazon yesterday that BSG: Exodus will be here by next Monday. I'm pretty psyched to try it out.

let me know what you think. specifically in regards to fixing some of the issues from the first expansion.

I love the show (though I haven't watched the last season, so that could change I suppose :lol) and would like to make the game more "up to date" with the show.

 

[narcosis219]

I picked up Dominion: Prosperity for 20 bucks on boxing day.

ITS SO GOOD.

Except for King's Court. Throne Room was already broken and now this :lol

 

[Chorazin]

I found the game to be really simple.

The rule book mentions a ton of unit types that aren't in the game, and the sort that you do have are basically of a "move x number of spaces, shoot if you are in range". Dunno, seems really simle for the price.

It's about as simple as Heroscape, from my reading of the rules. I really do hope additional units in the future add more strategy to it.

The bits and figures are pretty gorgeous though!

 

[Yaweee]

I picked up Dominion: Prosperity for 20 bucks on boxing day.

ITS SO GOOD.

Except for King's Court. Throne Room was already broken and now this :lol

What store had (or has) it on sale? I'm thinking of picking up some Dominion sets, and I'm interested in finding the cheapest deals.

Amazon's pack of The Original, Prosperity, and Alchemy for $60 seems like the best deal so far.

 

[narcosis219]

What store had (or has) it on sale? I'm thinking of picking up some Dominion sets, and I'm interested in finding the cheapest deals.

Amazon's pack of The Original, Prosperity, and Alchemy for $60 seems like the best deal so far.

I got prosperity as a door crasher at a local games store in vancouver. there was only one so i don't think you'll find it that cheap anywhere else (in canada).

I think that you should skip alchemy... it is definitely the weakest of the expansions. If you're a completionist then go for it, but i think you wont find yourself using the alchemy cards more than the first few plays of it.

But $60 sounds amazing for the 3. In canada the cheapest I found was 99 for all 3, and that was with a bundle discount. So lucky in the states; everything is so much cheaper

 

[Chorazin]

What store had (or has) it on sale? I'm thinking of picking up some Dominion sets, and I'm interested in finding the cheapest deals.

Amazon's pack of The Original, Prosperity, and Alchemy for $60 seems like the best deal so far.

They also have Seaside for $21. My copy will be here tomorrow!

 

[Yaweee]

I got prosperity as a door crasher at a local games store in vancouver. there was only one so i don't think you'll find it that cheap anywhere else (in canada).

I think that you should skip alchemy... it is definitely the weakest of the expansions. If you're a completionist then go for it, but i think you wont find yourself using the alchemy cards more than the first few plays of it.

But $60 sounds amazing for the 3. In canada the cheapest I found was 99 for all 3, and that was with a bundle discount. So lucky in the states; everything is so much cheaper

Yeah, those were basically my thoughts, too. Even discarding Alchemy as trash, $30 each for the main game and Prosperity (the best expansion, imo) seems like a great deal. And there's gotta be at least a few decent cards out of Alchemy that don't require the Potion mechanic, right?

EDIT: Gyah, $20 for Seaside? I really don't want to spend $80 right from the get-go before I know enough of my friends are interested, but, damn.

 

[narcosis219]

They also have Seaside for $21. My copy will be here tomorrow!

I should just move to the states

An expansion up here in canada is like 49.99 :lol

Luckily, we have starlit citadel that has half decent prices; they sell them for 39.99

 

[narcosis219]

Yeah, those were basically my thoughts, too. Even discarding Alchemy as trash, $30 each for the main game and Prosperity (the best expansion, imo) seems like a great deal. And there's gotta be at least a few decent cards out of Alchemy that don't require the Potion mechanic, right?

I think there are like... 2 cards that don't require potion. Not that great either.

Herbalist and Apprentice. Though apprentice is pretty much the same as Forge in Prosperity but cheaper and shittier :lol

Don't forget intrigue and sea side. Sea side is the next best one after prosperity imo

 

[Yaweee]

I think there are like... 2 cards that don't require potion. Not that great either.

Herbalist and Apprentice. Though apprentice is pretty much the same as Forge in Prosperity but cheaper and shittier :lol

Don't forget intrigue and sea side. Sea side is the next best one after prosperity imo

What are your thoughts on getting Intrigue instead of the Base Set?

 

[UpperCaseN]

I got soooo many games for Christmas and my bday which is a week before. I'm set for like the next 3 years

A Touch of Evil
Pandemic
Settlers of Catan
Arkham Horror
Munchkin 2 and 3 expansions
Talisman
Cranium

I don't want to try and juggle so many new games all at once, so I plan on opening and playing them one at a time and moving on when I'm ready to. Played A Touch of Evil for the first time last night with my fiance, seemed cool but way too easy. I imagine using the Basic Game ruleset is the cause for that, we'll probably play a few more before moving to Advanced Game.

 

[narcosis219]

What are your thoughts on getting Intrigue instead of the Base Set?

If you're new to dominion, definitely start out with the base set and stick to the base set for the first 10 or so plays. Base dominion doesn't have cards with weird rules like the expansions do and you should develop a feeling for the game without the ridiculous cards first. You should definitely familiarize yourself with the base game before you add fancy cards from the expansions.

Even though intrigue is a stand alone, it is still an expansion. It has some wacky cards in it that might slow down the gameplay for newer players. Get them both, but get the base game over intrigue if you have to.

 

[Yaweee]

If you're new to dominion, definitely start out with the base set and stick to the base set for the first 10 or so plays. Base dominion doesn't have cards with weird rules like the expansions do and you should develop a feeling for the game without the ridiculous cards first. You should definitely familiarize yourself with the base game before you add fancy cards from the expansions.

Even though intrigue is a stand alone, it is still an expansion. It has some wacky cards in it that might slow down the gameplay for newer players. Get them both, but get the base game over intrigue if you have to.

I have experience with all of the expansions from my work's Board Game Night, but I'm mostly concerned with picking up my own set to play with my other friends.

Looks like Intrigue is losing out for now. $60 for Base+Prosperity+Alchemy is a great a deal, as is $20 for Seaside. Intrigue just doesn't have a good enough of a deal at the moment to justify springing on.

Any word on the 5th expansion yet?

 

[narcosis219]

I have experience with all of the expansions from my work's Board Game Night, but I'm mostly concerned with picking up my own set to play with my other friends.

Looks like Intrigue is losing out for now. $60 for Base+Prosperity+Alchemy is a great a deal, as is $20 for Seaside. Intrigue just doesn't have a good enough of a deal at the moment to justify springing on.

Any word on the 5th expansion yet?

No idea, but I will have to make a bigger box to try to fit all my cards in if they do. I managed to fit all the pieces of everything dominion so far into the base game box perfectly. Any more cards and I'm gonna be SO pissed trying to make a new box for it all.

 

[choodi]

Finally on my way home from Christmas at the gfs sister's place! Getting my usual group together for some serious gaming over the next few days!

Cant wait to try some of my new games finally!

 

[jason10mm]

Bought Earth Reborn yesterday. WOW, ameritrash goodness, from France! So many bits, FFG seems lacking But the insert is so well designed everything fits in a place! Now to wade through the massive rulebook....

My BiL got Voltron. So awesome, the figures at least. Hope the game is as good. They got a Godzilla monsterocolypse fig?

Played some battletech, OLD SCHOOL BT, a warhammer vs a maradur, just for nostalgias sake. I would have won had I hit with a single PPC! Damned luck based dice game

My BiL also gave me a lightly used copy of Merchants of Venus. He LOVES that game, I think he is trying to shame me into playing it with him more

 

[Yaweee]

So I bit the bullet and bought the Amazon Dominion Box (Base + Prosperity + Alchemy) and Seaside, for $80 total.

 

[Flynn]

Plays this week: 7 Wonders, Code 777 and Founding Fathers.

The 7 Wonders honeymoon isn't over yet. And with three players Founding Fathers was super, super fun. It took a long time for votes to resolve so we spent a tone of time backstabbing. A couple of us also scored well over thirty.

 

[AstroLad]

I've played 8 games of Arkham Horror in the last three days with various family and friends. I'm pretty sure that's a new record.

Who would have guessed AH is the perfect family game to take a break from the "stressful" Agricola? :lol

 

[Flynn]

I've played 8 games of Arkham Horror in the last three days with various family and friends. I'm pretty sure that's a new record.

Who would have guessed AH is the perfect family game to take a break from the "stressful" Agricola? :lol

Wow.

 

[BattleMonkey]

It's about as simple as Heroscape, from my reading of the rules. I really do hope additional units in the future add more strategy to it.

The bits and figures are pretty gorgeous though!

Base game is very simple, it gets kinda boring quick because of it, but they have already 5 expansions announced in the back of the book. Apparently they are going to sell the stuff in box sets, or in individual unit packs if you want to just buy specific things like a single walker to add to an army.

Artillery, command teams, and snipers are coming in the next few months. Also new heroes being added with each set.

 

[Chorazin]

I've played 8 games of Arkham Horror in the last three days with various family and friends. I'm pretty sure that's a new record.

Who would have guessed AH is the perfect family game to take a break from the "stressful" Agricola? :lol

And here I am thinking about trading off my copy of AH. I just can't get into it at all.

 

[AstroLad]

And here I am thinking about trading off my copy of AH. I just can't get into it at all.

Never had as much fun with AH as I'm having now. I was actually thinking of selling away my whole big set just a few weeks ago. We're going to start integrating expansions now.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Miniature Market having a final sale for the holidays, take an extra 5% off everything: http://miniaturemarket.com/home

They are cheaper than most places, so good deal.

 

[Chorazin]

Miniature Market having a final sale for the holidays, take an extra 5% off everything: http://miniaturemarket.com/home

They are cheaper than most places, so good deal.

Hmmm...they still have ten copies of Horus Heresy left, and it's only $55 shipped. Might have to think about that.

 

[Merino]

So my collection closet is looking rather full since christmas. I'll have to buy more shelve space if I'm going to add more games. Oh the pains of boardgame collecting, I'm going through all the phases.

Anyway outside of all the boardgames that I knew I was going to get for christmas the surprise gift was Twilight Struggle as I was hoping. Man I can't wait to get this beast to the table. Just have to get the misses ready for it and I know she'll rather be playing TtR: Nordic which I gave to her.

Anyway my birthday is coming up in January as well so I've already taken the liberty to help some family members order the right games from the best (cheap) webstores.
Looks like I'll at least be getting;
- Arkham Horror --> hype in this thread has made me crave this game. Also wanted to have a good solitair game
- Pandemic+Virus Alert --> Jumping in on the co-op gaming with this one and AH.
- Amun-Ra --> On clearance sale here in holland and it's a BGG Top100 game so that was basically a blind-buy
- Race for the Galaxy: Gathering Storm --> According to bgg and our very own Astrolad this is almost required to make the base-game work.
- Struggle of Empires --> Found this OOP-gem in some random dutch webstore at normal pricing. Second OOP top100 game scored this month.

 

[BomberMouse]

Hmmm...they still have ten copies of Horus Heresy left, and it's only $55 shipped. Might have to think about that.

they do free shipping at $75, so you might want to add those $20 extra

 

[BattleMonkey]

Hmmm...they still have ten copies of Horus Heresy left, and it's only $55 shipped. Might have to think about that.

Good game, especially if you're a fan of the setting. It's a wargame basically, with a nice dice less combat system. The amount of figs included is pretty crazy and requires some minor assembly.

 

[Neverfade]

Good game, especially if you're a fan of the setting. It's a wargame basically, with a nice dice less combat system. The amount of figs included is pretty crazy and requires some minor assembly.

How is scenario balance? That's my biggest fucking rage inducer in a game. I think Memoir turned me off of that as it seemed kind of like a way to cover up the imbalance (yes, I know, change sides, blah -- no thanks).

I'd be more interested in playing a singular game that is more static and infinitely repeatable. I have however heard that scenarios are more "variants" than anything else though....true?

 

[BattleMonkey]

How is scenario balance? That's my biggest fucking rage inducer in a game. I think Memoir turned me off of that as it seemed kind of like a way to cover up the imbalance (yes, I know, change sides, blah -- no thanks).

I'd be more interested in playing a singular game that is more static and infinitely repeatable. I have however heard that scenarios are more "variants" than anything else though....true?

It's basically the same scenario since it portrays the same battle, but basically the scenarios in the book just change up the starting forces for each side, starting locations, number of cards, etc. Also many of the scenarios will involve a level of random generation at the start of the game when setting up that mixes things up a bit, such as having an orbital bombardment before the match begins which can inflict a few casualties on defenders, or maybe not. Winning conditions are the same pretty much no matter what scenario is chosen, each side has different ways they can win so the scenarios just mix up the beginning of the game.

 

[Chorazin]

Got Forbidden Island and Dominion Seaside today! Both look awesome!

 

[MichaelBD]

Got in two games of Twilight Struggle last night. USSR won both times. First time I was the USSR and I won with a points victory on turn 4 (Middle East Scoring card netted me 11 points to USA's zero).

Second game we switched sides and I pulled a rookie move that cost me the game. I played 5 Year Plan when Defcon was at 2. Of course my buddy draws Duck and Cover which calls for the Defcon to be dropped one level...hello Global Nuclear War....game over. We were in turn 4 again.

Such a great game.

And my Eastern Front expansion (with snow/desert board) arrived a little bit ago.

 

[StoOgE]

I actually have a question about TS.

If someone has domination of a region do they also score for control and presence or just the domination points?

 

[MichaelBD]

I actually have a question about TS.

If someone has domination of a region do they also score for control and presence or just the domination points?

Just domination.

 

[StoOgE]

Just domination.

cool. That's what we figured but the manual didn't really say. At least not that I found.

 

[MichaelBD]

cool. That's what we figured but the manual didn't really say. At least not that I found.

A scoring mistake we made early on was we thought Presence meant you had to be controlling at least one battleground in a region, when in fact you only need to control any country in a region to have Presence. You'd be surprised how big a difference that distinction makes.

 

[StoOgE]

A scoring mistake we made early on was we thought Presence meant you had to be controlling at least one battleground in a region, when in fact you only need to control any country in a region to have Presence. You'd be surprised how big a difference that distinction makes.

so from what I gather scoring is like this:

You have domination, control or presense. Whichever the highest one is. Then you get bonuses for battleground states + bordering the other super power.

domination = more countries controled + all battle grounds controlled.
control = more countries controlled + more battlegrounds controlled.
presence = control of any country.

You total those two for each side and the higher number gets the difference in points.

I'm going to drop my parents dog off on the way to San Antonio for New Years tommorow and my dad has specifically requested I bring this game

 

[AstroLad]

Small fixes:

control = more countries controled + all battle grounds controlled.
domination = more countries controlled + more battlegrounds controlled + at least one non-battleground controlled.
presence = control of any country.

 

[Flynn]

Got my 7 Wonders promo expansion in the mail today. Will try it out on Sunday.

 

[StoOgE]

Small fixes:

control = more countries controled + all battle grounds controlled.
domination = more countries controlled + more battlegrounds controlled + at least one non-battleground controlled.
presence = control of any country.

other than getting control and domination flipped sounds like I'm playing it correctly.

One other question.. there is the NATO card (I think?) where the US has to have control of Canada for a constant effect to take place. If the card is played and the US does not control Canada does the card become discarded or does it stay in effect and the US only gets the bonus once they control Canada?

The card doesn't have a prerequisite listed, it just says "if the US controls Canda then X happens"

 

[MichaelBD]

other than getting control and domination flipped sounds like I'm playing it correctly.

One other question.. there is the NATO card (I think?) where the US has to have control of Canada for a constant effect to take place. If the card is played and the US does not control Canada does the card become discarded or does it stay in effect and the US only gets the bonus once they control Canada?

The card doesn't have a prerequisite listed, it just says "if the US controls Canda then X happens"

It's the NORAD card and once it's played the effect is ongoing (though there is no chit for it), meaning if you don't Control Canada when it's played, it will come into effect once you do control Canada. It's one of the new optional cards that really helps to balance out the early war for the USA.

What's nice is how it dovetails with Special Relationship (which gives you ops in neighboring countries for controlling the UK). So sometimes you can gain control of Canada without having to expend any Ops from cards.

**edited for clarity**

 

[StoOgE]

Doesn't look great for the math trade.. right now only about 16% of items are being traded and over 1/3rd of the people who have submitted want lists aren't trading a single item.

 

[Pepboy]

Played two games of Civilization board game. Despite some rounds being simultaneous, we ran into serious analysis paralysis and both games ran in the 6-7 hour range. I'm not a fan of the combat. While I understand it, I found it the hardest aspect for new players to grasp, which led to some frustration.

1st game - 3 players - good balance across the different victory paths. We played without wonders (as game suggests) and resulted in tech victory although culture player was only one turn away.

2nd game - 2 players - another tech victory. But the winner of the game was clear about half way through, and it was just a long grind to the end. Would not recommend with only 2 players.

 

[Pepboy]

No idea, but I will have to make a bigger box to try to fit all my cards in if they do. I managed to fit all the pieces of everything dominion so far into the base game box perfectly. Any more cards and I'm gonna be SO pissed trying to make a new box for it all.

Woah! Nice idea.

 

[BronzeWolf]

I am looking for a boardgame to play with my girlfriend. She is not an expert gamer by any means and we are still struggling with RE5, but she is interested.

Is Lost Cities a good game for us?

I will also buy Settlers of Catan for my gamer friends, so we can play something other than D&D

 

[StoOgE]

Lost Cities is extremely fun, but a very basic game.

I've found the casual factor with it is extremely high.. that said, it's something you can get tired of pretty quickly if that is all you are playing. I might pair that with a 2nd game like Battle Line or Aton that are also good, simple 2p games but with a bit more meat on their bones.

Maybe even Carcassonne which is a very good, but simple 2p game that also scales to 5p.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Lost Cities is extremely fun, but a very basic game.

I've found the casual factor with it is extremely high.. that said, it's something you can get tired of pretty quickly if that is all you are playing. I might pair that with a 2nd game like Battle Line or Aton that are also good, simple 2p games but with a bit more meat on their bones.

Maybe even Carcassonne which is a very good, but simple 2p game that also scales to 5p.

battle line or aton look like fun, but is there something more terror/zombie-like? My gf is the cutest thing but likes gory shit haha

 

[MichaelBD]

Played two games of Civilization board game. Despite some rounds being simultaneous, we ran into serious analysis paralysis and both games ran in the 6-7 hour range. I'm not a fan of the combat. While I understand it, I found it the hardest aspect for new players to grasp, which led to some frustration.

1st game - 3 players - good balance across the different victory paths. We played without wonders (as game suggests) and resulted in tech victory although culture player was only one turn away.

2nd game - 2 players - another tech victory. But the winner of the game was clear about half way through, and it was just a long grind to the end. Would not recommend with only 2 players.

That is some serious AP if it is taking you 6+ hours to play with less than 4. I've played 3 times (twice with 4 and once with 3) and the first game was the longest at over 5 hours, but the second and third games came in under 5. I believe once players know what they are doing the game can be played in under 4 (at least that's what I'm shooting for).

 

[mrklaw]

Got zooloretto and TTR:Nordic for Christmas. Not played TTR but zooloretto went down a storm with the kids.

Any tips for rule tweaks? Eg do you leave out the extension, or have it included and maybe free to use without paying? Seems expensive and there usually aren't a lot of coins going around. My son suggested giving everyone a coin at the start of each round as 'income' which sounds a good idea but I dint know if it'd upset the balance of the game.

Anyone?

 

[StoOgE]

battle line or aton look like fun, but is there something more terror/zombie-like? My gf is the cutest thing but likes gory shit haha

Last night on earth is a fun zombie game. It plays with 2 people but I've never done it. I believe one of you would be the zombies and the other would control 4 humans. It scales well to 5 players and can be played with 6.

There is also Arkham Horror which is a co-op game set in the Lovecraft universe. It is really well liked, though a longer more complicated game. From what I've been told only one person really needs all of the rules down and can work as a player/DM kind of position with the other players simply learn the ropes.

Given that you play D&D these two games may be up your alley since they are very thematic games that allow you to do some very light role playing.